But large swaths of the country had no test-to-treat pharmacies or health centers listed as of April 14. And the website of the largest participant, CVS, has significant technical issues that make booking an appointment difficult.
“All of our public health response relies on lowering the barrier to getting treatments to the right people,” said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California-San Francisco.
She said the fragmented federal, state, and local public health systems, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ reliance on partners that charge high prices for appointments, and the lack of clear information are stymieing the effort. “The best tools that we have are not going to reach the people who most need them,” she said.
Bibbins-Domingo is also a practicing physician at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, which she says is not only testing patients for covid and prescribing them antivirals, but also delivering them medications — all the elements of test-to-treat. But the hospital, which largely treats low-income and uninsured patients, doesn’t appear on the federal map. It shows just three locations in San Francisco: two community health centers and one CVS.
Nationally, CVS MinuteClinics make up more than half of all test-to-treat locations, according to the federal data. The roughly 1,200 clinics, in 35 states and Washington, D.C., are housed under the same roof as CVS pharmacies, where patients can pick up prescriptions for covid antivirals. Walgreens drugstores and Kroger grocery store affiliates run about 400 more sites.
Even if they can afford it, finding treatment might be impossible.
KHN aimed to find out how easy or hard booking a test-to-treat appointment at a CVS would be. Reporters searched online and in person for covid testing and treatment appointments in April.
It took a KHN reporter in the Washington, D.C., area three hours driving between stores to figure out whether testing was available and antivirals in stock across four MinuteClinic locations — time that few people can afford in general, let alone when they’re sick.
Each store provided test-to-treat services, which could be booked through a kiosk. But three of the stores either didn’t have same-day appointments available or didn’t have the antiviral pills in stock that day.
A KHN reporter also tried to book appointments online at clinics in several states, listing upper respiratory symptoms. After the reporter marked a positive covid test on the screening form, a message appeared — “For the safety of our patients and staff, we can’t allow you into the clinic at this time” — and the patient was then directed to book a telehealth visit.
KHN also searched CVS’ website for testing appointments at all MinuteClinics shown on the federal map in the District of…
Read More: Covid-19 test-to-treat program stymied by lack of services, tech problems